The West Duwamish Trail will connect into South Park as soon as the end of 2013 according to the city’s plans.
The trail—which runs almost to the West Seattle Bridge and connects to the 1st Ave Bridge—will extend down W Marginal Way to S Portland St. On Portland—which might be the potholiest street in Seattle—the trail will be built in a currently unpaved space and will lead to a really cool little pocket park along the river.
Perhaps more importantly, the trail extension could be a big kickstart for a more bike-friendly South Park.
Planners presented details to the Bicycle Advisory Board Wednesday. Here’s how the one-block section connecting the existing trail to S Portland will look:
Below is a map of the project. It could operate as a lifeline for the neighborhood, and opens many opportunities for biking and walking connections:
So, what would it take to connect this trail to the soon-to-be-rebuilt South Park Bridge and, someday, the Green River Trail? There is a lot of potential for neighborhood greenways in South Park. The current draft of the Bicycle Master Plan leaves a lot to be desired in the neighborhood (it doesn’t even have this planned trail). This would be a great opportunity for some residents to propose a neighborhood greenway route or two that could interface with this trail.
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It’s a start. More attention needs to be focused in the south end. You northerners have no idea how good you have it.
Hooray! As a West Seattle cyclist I took this route all the time without cycle amenities but am happy to have cycle specific route to South Park. Just a short trip along 599 gets you to the Green River trail from here. Need to add the extension but great that this section may be done soon. Nice industrial views mixed with riverfront riding. This makes me happy.
I’m imagining a seamless cycle track/trail from the South Park Bridge to the Green River trail follwing 14th and W Marginal Pl. Like this: https://www.google.com/maps/ms?msid=209027894998262833969.0004d2590c822453a8c7b&msa=0
In that map, the Yellow is the new trail. The green is a potential neighborhood greenway/cycle track route (this could be modified according to neighborhood interests and preferences). The blue is a cycle track/trail connecting the South Park Bridge to the Green River Trail. Obviously, this would require coordination btwn the city and county. But it doesn’t seem that hard to do, really.
The “yellow” looks red to me…
There’s already a short segment of existing trail connecting 8th Ave S to Henderson St. Perhaps a greenway the length of 8th is called for? It doesn’t quite take you all the way to the bridge, but then in a perfect world I’d extend the W Marginal segment of the new trail to Kenyon if I were to adopt your plan anyway.
It’s weird how South Park is almost randomly split between city and county, though admittedly most of it is in Seattle.
Ha! It was yellow, then I changed it to red b/c Google uses yellow for roads.
Good timing. I just moved to S Seattle and this morning was my 1st commute (I’ve been cycling to Tukwilla light rail then catching a bus to the U District). The main question is am I the only woman (old woman at that) that cycles S Seattle?
And How am I suppose to get from the 1st Ave S bridge drop off to 1st Ave S? No crosswalks, No sidewalks! Out of the 14.2 miles this was the only danger zone.
But if I go S to Tukwilla all of Military Road is a danger zone.
Also we are commuters so adding mile after mile trying to get to safe routes is not working! We need bike zones that can allow us to get from S Seattle to the city as safe and easy as a car. Worked on Dexter!